Congratulations on signing up for the 2012 Run for the Toad 50km. You will be joining 1400 other hearty souls on a magnificent trail running experience!

If this is your first introduction to trail running this is a perfect course for you. The trail is very well groomed and offers some great scenic vistas of the surrounding forest and countryside. Where possible I would certainly recommend getting some of your training done on a trail if you are coming from a road running background. While not all training is necessary to do on trail it will certainly make things go smoother race day by doing some.

If you have a chance to get to the Run for the Toad training run, Saturday, July 28 it would be of benefit and you will notice on the training program provided the runs are oriented around 2 loops of the course which will help you familiarize yourself with the course and give you a good mental image of what you will be tackling race day. If geography or time prevents you from getting there here’s a little bit of info to help prepare you.

The course offers very few flat sections, and at the same time very few extended climbs. The course is very rolling and the longest climb shouldn’t take you much longer than 90 seconds. The exciting part of the course is what didn’t seem like a hill on loop one or two becomes a mountain on loop 3 and 4! About 60% of the course is shaded and there are some exposed sections in the grassy meadows. Weather has come in all forms at the Run for the Toad from snow and hail to gorgeous 70F sun. Aid stations are ample on the course as well. If you use a run/walk program based on time I recommend scrapping that and doing what the course allows.

I hope you enjoy not only the event itself but the training to prep yourself for the event! It certainly will be a memorable experience

Happy trails!
Ryne (Montrail Team Member, 2008 – 50k Winner)

RUN FOR THE TOAD 50K TRAINING PROGRAM
WEEKMONTUESWEDTHUFRISATSUNWEEK
May 28 - Jun 3OFF6K10K6KOFF10K10K42K
Jun 4 - Jun 10OFF6K10K6KOFF15K10K47K
Jun 12 - Jun 117OFF6K12K6KOFF15K15K54K
Jun 18 - Jun 24OFF8K12K8KOFF20K10K58K
Jun 25 - Jul 1OFF8K12K8KOFF20K15K61K
Jul 2 - Jul 8OFF6K4 X HILLS (D)6KOFF15K15K52K
Jul 9 - Jul 15OFF6K5 X HILLS6KOFF22K20K67K
Jul 16 - Jul 22OFF6K6 X HILLS6KOFF25K (A)20K71K
Jul 23 - Jul 29OFF8K7 X HILLS6KOFF25K20K72K
Jul 30 - Aug 5OFF6K8 X HILLS6KOFF30k20K78K
Aug 6 - Aug 12OFF8K9 X HILLS5KOFF30K25K85K
Aug 13 - Aug 19OFF8K5 x 1 Mile (E)8KOFFITT 32K (B)15K76K
Aug 20 - Aug 26OFF10K8 SETS OF 5:18KOFF25K20K77K
Aug 27 - Sep 2OFF10K10 X 800M (E)8KOFF35K25K92K
Sep 3 - Sep 9OFF10K15 SETS OF 2:18KOFF40K20K89K
Sep 10 - Sep 16OFF10K16KM8KOFF25K10K69K
Sep 17 - Sep 23OFF16K10K TEMPO10KOFF20K10K66K
Sep 24 - Sep 28OFF8K10KM8K3K RUN50K RACE!3K WALK82K
A = Run for the Toad Training Run Saturday (July 28)
B = Iroquoia Trail Test 32K
D = Hill workouts have a 3k warm up and cool down jog. Recovery between hills should be 60-90 seconds. Length of hill should be between 500-800 meters and run at 10k race pace
E = Repeats of 1 mile should have 90 seconds rest between intervals, 1/2 mile intervals 60 seconds rest.

Download Training Program in MS Excel format